Small boat restrainer



Dec. 15, 1953 Filed Jan. 11, 1951 INVENTOR' w mfi m ATTORNEY PatentedDec. 15, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SMALL BOAT RESTRAINER John H.Bascome, Jr., Mamaroneck, N. Y. Application January 11, 1951, Serial No.205,566 7 Claims. (01. 114-230) My invention relates to a device forkeeping a small boat which is tied to a dock or vessel, in a fixedposition notwithstanding the pressure of wind, wave or current tendingto deflect it.

My device comprises a pair of arms under spring tension, pivotallymounted upon a support secured to a structure to which a small boat istied, said arms straddling the bow of the small boat and engaging bothouter forward sides thereof, the spring tension of each arm serving toresist its displacement by a lateral movement or swing of such boatunder the deflecting pressure of wind, wave or current.

The term small boat as employed herein comprises yacht tenders,dinghies, row boats, inboard and outboard power boats, usually not exceeding sixteen feet in overall length and more commonly of a lesseroverall length. I am not however restricting the invention toapplication to these sizes of boats, as it may be applied to boats ofgreater length.

The term structure as employed herein and in the appended claimscomprises landing and boat floats, sail and power boats, floating craftof any kind, and non-floating docks, bulkheads or other small boatlandings.

In the case of yacht clubs not furnishing launch service, the yachts ofthe club members are usually moored offshore, thus requiring a tender orsmall boat whereby the owner and his crew may reach the yacht from theshore and may return to the shore. In these instances the yacht clubprovides so-called dinghy floats to which the tenders are secured whennot in use, generally in an orderly manner which leaves clearancebetween the small boats, to facilitate reaching and leaving the float,as well as to prevent the small boats from chafing each other. Manyshore stations provide like service, not only to yacht tenders, but tosmall boats used for fishing, rowing or sailing, with the same sort offloats to accommodate them when not in use.

In many instances, however, the structure to which the small boats aresecured, is located in a position exposed to strong winds or currents,or waves produced by passing craft, which deflect the small boats fromtheir proper, orderly posi tions and cause them to collide with andchafe against each other to their mutual damage, and in addition suchdeflection of the small boats closes the initial clearance gaps betweenthem, making access to the structure or egress therefrom, diflicult.

A similar situation exists where the boat to which the small boat is atender, is moored olishore by both bow and stern, as is the case incrowded harbors, where when the tender reaches or current direction themoored boat.

Even in the case where the boat is moored only by the bow, where thecondition exists of a strong current running in an angular directionrelative to the keel of the small boat and a lighter wind blowing inanother direction, the same difiiculty exists of avoiding collisionbetween the moored boat and its tender tied to it, as the moored boat,due to its displacement, will lie with the current, and its tender, oflight displacement, will lie with the wind.

It is an object of my invention to provide a device which will besecured to the structure to which the small boat is tied which willprevent the deflection of the small boat by reason of pressure of wind,current, wave or otherwise.

It is a further object of my invention to provide such a device which,when not in use may be removed and stowed away.

It is a further object of my invention to provide such a device whichwhen in position will not materially obstruct the deck of the vesselupon which it is mounted.

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the device mounted on the deck of astructure, showing in broken lines, the forward portion of a small boatto which the device is applied.

Fig. 2 is a partial side elevation of the device in operating position.

Fig. 3 is a partial plan view of the device in operating position.

Referring to the drawings:

A is a fragment of the deck of a structure, in this case, a boat float,B being a side and C the deck thereof. D is the support upon whichspring arms E and E are mounted.

In the embodiment of my invention shown, the support 1) consists of twoupright posts I and 2, secured to a base 3, which in turn is secured todeck 0. The spring arms E and E, in the device shown, consist of acontinuous spring steel rod 4, having a straight section In sufiicientto span the upright posts I and 2, coils 5 and 6 being formed in rod 4respectively outside of posts I and 2. Opposed arms E and El" emergefrom coils 5 and 6 in a diverging direction, as best seen in Fig. 3, andthen converge, to cross each other 3 at I, whence they diverge so as tocontact each side of the small boat F indicated in dotted lines inFig. 1. Said last named divergence of arms E and E is of a nature whichwill generally conform to the convergence of the forward sides of boatF, whereby the latter will be gripped by arms E and E when said boat Fis secured to float A.

Posts I and 2 are slotted vertically, the slots being designated as II,to receive the straight section I of rod 4. A key pin I2 is inserted inthe upper portion of slots I I, which are bored to receive it. Key pinI2 is reduced in diameter and screw-threaded at its outer end as isshown in Fig. 3. Slot II in post 2 is bored to'receive the full diameterof key pin I2, while slot II in post I is bored and screw-threaded toreceive screw-threaded end I3 of key pin I2. The opposite end of key pinI2 is formed into a wing I4 to facilitate hand turning. The functionofkey pin I2 is to keep the straight section II) of rod 4.-in place inslots II,.at the same time, permitting it to be removed on thewithdrawal of key pin I2; Key pin 12 also serves as a convenient bar.to-which to securethe painter i5 of small boat 5-.

The height of posts I tom of slots II therein, will begoverned by theheight of float A relative to the height of the small boats F securedthereto. Usually the deck C of float A is of greater than the forward.gunwales of small boats F, so that, to embrace. the forwardsides ofsmall boats F, arms E and E shouldhave a sufficient downwardinclination. Such height of posts I and 2 may be reduced by mountingthem flush or nearly so with the edge of deck C. Aiurtheralternativewould be to bend down arms E and E from the points where theycontact the edge of deck'C. t is preferable that arms E andE afterleaving the edge of deck Cv should be deflected downwardly and. thenceupwardly in agentle: curve;

asshown in Figs. 1 and 2.

water, than the sections aft of the bow, and the purpose of thus curvingarms E and" E is to ensure that they will-engage not only the portionsof the sides of small. boat F immediately adja cent the bow, but severalfeet of each side aft of the. bow.

ArmsE and E are provided, intheir boat contacting portions I1, with.aguard IE to avoid chafing the sides of small boat F.

Arms E and E are pivotally mounted in slots I I. When in position inslots II, they may fall to the edge of deck C, or theymay be raised anddropped to deck C in the opposite direction.

It is preferable that they should not. beleft protruding over the edgeof deck C afterthe small boat F has left the float, as that mightpresent an awkward obstruction to access to float A,and;at the sametime. it ispreferable that they should not beleft lying on. the deck Cof floatv A as that might be inconvenient-to those using it. The bestout-of-use position of arms E and E isa vertical one, inclined at anangle of about 45 rearwardly of the edge of float A. Thisis accomplishedby arranging the setting of key pin I2 in slotv II or post I so thatwhen it is screwed home its wing Idwill take that angle; as shown inFig. 2, and serve as a stop for arms E and E when they are turnedupwards and rearwardly.

Where small boat F is to be secured to a boat mooredoffshore, as.distinct from afloat at the shore, supportD may be mounted upon thedeck,

andv 2', andof the bot-' height above the. water The bows, of most smallboatsF arev considerably higher from. the

as shown in the drawings, or on the transom or sides of the vessel. Itis preferable in these cases that support D be removably mounted, sothat when not in use, it and arms E and E could be stowed away. Thiscould be accomplished by securing short tracks to the deck, sides ortransoms, within which base 3 would slide, with conventional stoppers atthe ends of the tracks, or by other means which would occur to one madeacquainted with the problem by this disclosure.

Spring steel rod of approximately one-quarter inch diameter should beadequate for small boats, with inboard or outboard motors, of 16 feet inoverall length, even in exposed locations.

A spring tension of arms E and E of pounds should be adequate for suchsmall boats. A length of two feet of arms E and E, measured from posts Iand 2, for such boats, should be adequate. I am however not in any waylimiting my invention to such spring pressures or arm lengths.

On inland lakes and the Great Lakes, where there is no'rise and fall ofthe tide, floating boat landings are not necessary, and in instances thelanding consists of 'a platform hinged to a structure on. the shore thuspermitting it to be adjusted to the level of' the water, which may varyfrom time to time due to other than tidal conditions; or the boatlanding may be a perma- -nently installed dock or bulkhead. It will beunderstood that the said device may be used upon such non-floatingstructures to keep the small boats in their proper berths at such docksor landings.

The operation of the device should be apparent from the foregoingdescription. In the drawings, the small boat is shown to be secured tofloat A by painter I5 fastened to key pin. I2. Such painter could besecured tofloat A directly. As

shown in the drawings, arms E and E do not secure small boat F to floatA, but serve to prevent its lateral displacement, when properlysecuredlto-float A, against the deflecting pressure of wind, current orwave. However, the outboard ends ofarms E and E could be secured to thegunwales of small boat F, which would'avoid the necessity of tying it tothe float by a painter; I am. aware of. the fact that variousfenders,gunwale guards and other. expedients have been used to prevent thechafing of colliding small boats at boat floats. Most of theseexpedients, particu larly the continuous gunwaleguards, are-expensive,and most particularly, are not used-by every boat attached to a float,with the result that the owner'who provides these-guards, frequently hasa neighbor who does not. In addition, those expedients do not goto theheart of the problem, which isv to keep the small boats in the orderlyposition intended, leaving clearance between them, so that thoseapproaching or leaving the float in their tenders are not obliged toclear their way of obstructing small boats, but may enter or leavean-unobstructed berth.

While Lhave shown arms E and E to be provided with coils 5 and 6,:suchorany coils are not necessary. Rod 4 could be bent, outside of posts I and2, at the proper angle, without forming any coil. Also, it is notnecessary to cross arms E and E as at I. The crossing shown enables armsE and E to embrace the forward sides of small boat F closer to the bow.

It would also be possible to make the boat engaging portions of arms Eand E of non-resilient material and to place. them under springpressure, as for example,,by connecting them to the portions of rod 4which lie between coils 5 and 6 and the turns 20.

Other changes in the embodiment shown may be made without departing fromthe invention.

I claim:

1. A restraining device to prevent the lateral deflection of a floatingsmall boat moored bow end to, to a boat landing structure connected to ashore, comprising a support adapted to be mounted on said structure, apair of opposed arms removably and pivotally mounted on said support forvertical angular motion, said arms being diverged so as to enable saidarms to be adapted to straddle the bow and engage the forward oppositesides of the boat to be restrained, and spring means associated witheach said arm tending to resist its lateral deflection.

2. A restraining device in accordance with claim 1 in which the saidarms, in their boat contacting portions are covered by a guard to avoidchafing the sides of the boat to be restrained.

3. A restraining device to prevent the lateral deflection of a floatingsmall boat moored, bow end to, to a boat landing structure connected toa shore, comprising a support adapted to be mounted on said structure,spring means removably and pivotally mounted on said support, forvertical angular movement, a pair of arms secured to and placed underthe spring pressure of said spring means, said arms being diverged so asto enable said arms to be adapted to straddle the bow and engage theforward opposite sides of the boat to be restrained, said spring meansbeing such as to resist the lateral deflection of said arms.

4. A restraining device in accordance with claim 3, in which the saidarms, in their boat contacting portions, are covered by a guard to avoidchafing the sides of the boat to be restrained.

5. A restraining device to prevent the lateral deflection of a floatingsmall boat moored, bow end to, to a boat landing structure connected toa shore, comprising a support adapted to be mounted on said structure, apair of diverging opposed arms and spring means associated with eachsaid arm forming an integral unit fashioned out of a single spring bar,removably and pivotally mounted on said support for vertical angularmovement, said spring means comprising two coils formed in said bar, onecoil tending to resist the lateral deflection of one of said arms, andthe other coil tending to resist the lateral deflection of the other ofsaid arms.

6. A restraining device in accordance with claim 5, in which said arms,in their boat contacting portions are covered by a guard to avoidchafing the sides of the boat to be engaged.

7. A device for restraining small floating boats moored to a boatlanding structure, comprising a support adapted to be mounted on saidstructure, and an integral unit including a pair of arms, spring meanscontrolling the lateral deflection of said arms, mounted removably andpivotally on said support for vertical angular movement, said armsdiverging to enable them to straddle the bow of the boat to berestrained and adapting them to engage the opposite forward sides ofsaid boat, the spring means being such as to tend to resist the lateraldeflection of each said arm.

JOHN H. BASCOME, JR.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

